Tuesday, April 17, 2012

3 Portrait Composition Tips for Framing Your Subject

3 Portrait Composition Tips for Framing Your Subject

Move beyond simple snapshots and learn how to
capture more engaging, interesting portrait photos with these essential
composition tips.

People are probably the most interesting photographic subject - they're
infinitely varied, convey a unique personality and vibe, and as humans
it's in our nature to find them fascinating. So it's hardly surprising
that they make such a popular subject for professional and amateur
photographers alike.

Finding a successful portrait composition is harder than it might seem.
Anyone can point a camera at a person and grab a snapshot, but it takes
more skill and technical knowledge to capture a photo which is truly
engaging and full of character. Follow these tips to help take your
portrait photography to the next level.

Don't Leave Too Much Headroom

Headroom is the amount of space between the top of your subject's head
and the top of the frame. It might seem like a trivial matter, but it's
important to get this distance just right. Fail to do so and you'll end
up with a photo that has lots of space above the subject, or one where
they appear "squashed" up to the top of the image - both of which can be
highly distracting.

The amount of headroom required depends on how closely you're
photographing your subject - the more you zoom in, the less space you
should leave. This might sound a bit vague, and that's because there
really are no set rules for getting the "correct" headroom. Just be
aware of it before you press the shutter, and recompose your shot until
the headroom no longer draws your attention - that's when you know
you've got it right.

If in doubt, set your lens to a slightly wider angle and capture more
of the surroundings than you need. This gives you a bit of space to play
with later on, allowing you to crop or recompose the photo once you've
had a chance to examine it on your computer.

Pay Close Attention to Eye Position

Following on from the concept of headroom, you also need to be aware of
where your subject's eyes are positioned. The eyes are likely to be the
focal point of your portrait photo, and they're where most people will
look first, so you need to position them properly within the
composition.

Position the subject's eyes about one third of the way from the top of the frame for a natural, balanced composition.

Most experts agree that you should follow the rule of thirds
and compose your portrait so that the subject's eyes are positioned
roughly one third of the way down from the top edge of the frame. This
gives your portrait's composition an inherent balance and a natural,
pleasing feel.

Of course, there are situations where you might want to adjust the
subject's eye position to show more or less of their body or the
surroundings. This is absolutely fine, and you shouldn't be afraid to
experiment with different portrait compositions - rules are there to be
broken after all. However, the rule of thirds eye position works well in
most cases and makes a great starting point to adjust and build on.

Fill the Frame with Your Subject

There's nothing worse than a portrait photo which lacks impact, and the
most common cause of this is choosing a composition where the subject
doesn't take up enough of the frame. It can be tempting to include as
much of your subject as possible - their face, their hair, their body,
their surroundings, and so on - but all this does is introduce
distractions into the scene, reducing the effectiveness of the photo as a
whole.

Don't be afraid to zoom in close, cropping out all unnecessary detail.

Rather than try to include as much detail as possible, do the complete
opposite. Choose the most interesting thing about your subject and
concentrate solely on that, cropping out everything else. Usually this
means zooming in on the subject's face to capture their features and
expression.

Don't be afraid to chop off parts of your subject such as the top or
sides of their head; it all helps to reduce distractions and focus the
viewer's attention even more intently on the important parts of the
photo. It's usually not a good idea to crop out the subject's chin, as
this can appear unnatural, but even this can work in certain
circumstances so don't be afraid to give it a go.

These portrait composition tips may seem simple, and they are, but it's
amazing how often they are overlooked, resulting in underwhelming
photos which could have been avoided. Add them to your mental checklist
and be sure to apply them next time you're photographing friends or
family, and see how much difference they can make to your shots.